Ji Chang Wook recently teamed up with Elle Korea for a pictorial and video interview to promote his Netflix period drama The Scandal. Consisting of vintage style and monochromatic images, the themed editorial titled “Ji Chang Wook’s Night”has a moody and rich atmosphere that capturing a spectrum of the actor's charm from cool and sharp to tender and sensual. My favorite is the black and white one above because it radiates a certain sense of intensity and sincerity.
The shoot’s visual narrative mirrors the duality of Chang Wook's recent role as Cho Won, the “greatest playboy of Joseon” in Netflix’s The Scandal, a drama inspired by the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (“Dangerous Liaisons”) as it transposes the seduction‑and‑power game into Joseon‑era Korea much like the 2003 film Untold Scandal. Chang Wook described the experience as “very interesting” and said he focused on how to behave, make choices, and experience emotions in each moment, rather than leaning into the “Joseon’s best playboy” label explaining that he avoided overplaying the seducer aspect, letting Cho Won’s allure emerge naturally through attitude and action. “I didn’t want to exaggerate or add anything to make him seem more like a womanizer. I wanted that side of him to come through naturally… Jo Won is a complicated and difficult man… fun and challenging to portray.”
I have watched the drama and it's quite different from Untold Scandal. Chang Wook's performance was a particular standout as he managed to deliver a magnetic, layered portrayal of Cho Won that blends charm, restraint and vulnerability to depict Cho Won as a character who is both alluring and unsettled drawing viewers into the moral and emotional dilemmas of the drama.. In The Scandal, his compelling portrayal is the emotional core that makes the narrative engaging. I will say that he was definitely more successful than his co-stars.
The drama has sparked two major controversies, one over an actress’s appearance and another over the show’s explicit content. I think the criticism of actress Lim Jin who plays Hui Yeon, a chaste Joseon era widow was valid as her noticeable lip filler clashed both with the historical setting and her character’s chastity breaking immersion and was inappropriate for the period piece. As far as the nudity and sex scenes, I feel like the argument could go either way but as a long time watcher of Korean movies, I didn't find it to be all that shocking.
For a complete change of pace, Chang Wook also makes a return to romantic comedy in the Merry Berry Love as Lee Yu Bin, a perfectionist spatial designer from Seoul whose life collapses overnight, leading him to a remote Japanese strawberry island where he meets farmer Shirahama Karin (Mio Imada) sparking a heartfelt, cross‑cultural romance. Now streaming, the drama has drawn positive reaction and has become a global hit, peaking at #1 worldwide on Disney+’s TV Shows chart and ranking in the top 10 in 72 countries.
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